Solar Impulse 2 creates history - crosses the Pacific Ocean after 62-hours non-stop flight

Solar Impulse 2, the solar-powered aircraft piloted by Pilot Betrand Piccard has completed a crossing of the Pacific Ocean after a 62-hour non-stop flight and has landed in Mountain View outside San Francisco - it had traveled from Hawaii on the latest stage of its journey around the world.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 24 April 2016.

Solar Impulse 2 had started its journey from Abu Dhabi in March last year and had made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan. However, the Pacific leg was the most dangerous part of the journey since there was lack of places to make a landing in an emergency.
Anyway, before landing, the solar powered aircraft carried out a fly-by over the Golden Gate Bridge and the pilot Betrand Piccard proudly announced - 'I crossed the bridge. I am officially in America.'
The normal speed of the plane is around 28mph (45kph) but it can reach double that speed when the sun's rays are strongest. Moreover, the wings of the carbon-fibre aircraft stretches wider than those of a Boeing 747 and are covered with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries. At night, it runs on stored energy.
The Solar Impulse 2 had arrived in Hawaii in July but had to stay put there because the plane's battery system had sustained heat damage on its trip from Japan and had to undergo repairs.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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